WEEKEND RITUALS #03 - BACKSTAGE NOTES

Some bands never made it to the stage. Others played without ever being announced and in 2023, an entire festival disappeared from the calendar.

 NOT EVERYTHING WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN.   SOME OF THE BEST MOMENTS WEREN'T EVEN ANNOUNCED! 

After the COVID hiatus, the future of INVICTA REQUIEM MASS was uncertain and its return growing increasingly remote, but we finally managed to bring the festival back from the dead in 2022 and as usual, not everything went according to plan!

The sixth gathering went through several last-minute changes, from logistical problems to a band being prevented from boarding its flight to Portugal but, as so many times before, we could count on some great people, bands and crew members who stepped in at the very last minute to fill the gaps and make things happen.

Around that time, Metalpoint, the venue that had always opened its doors to us, was forced to close. Another casualty of the gentrification slowly erasing spaces like these from our cities. It was a heavy blow to the festival, as Metalpoint had long since become part of our history and was the Festival's home.

Then came 2023. We found a new venue, and the seventh edition was scheduled. Tickets had been sold, flights and hotels booked, fifteen bands announced and everything was in place. Then, suddenly, we lost the venue and with no alternative available we were forced to cancel the festival.

The records, the music and, above all, the people remained. We will always be grateful to everyone who stayed, stepped in and helped turn what could have been nothing into a small gathering where the only things that mattered were the music and the people who came together for it. A special, everlasting thank you to our new venue in Ovar, which has welcomed us and become an essential part of the festival's history.

Over the years, other bands have also given us the pleasure of performing for our audience without ever being announced or appearing on the official running order. Some of the best moments were never on the posters.

For this weekend's selection, we return to the bands whose appearances were cancelled, those who stepped in to fill the gaps, those who played without an announcement, and the unfinished history of INVICTA REQUIEM MASS VII. These are our BACKSTAGE NOTES!

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The countdown to INVICTA REQUIEM MASS IX continues, with a different selection every Friday.

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